 The holidays can be the most magical time of the year but they can also cause stress too. With all the expectations, traditions to continue and family and friends to entertain the list can become exhausting and before you realize it the season has come to an end and you are left feeling like you didn't have one moment to enjoy it. So, how do we put a halt on the craziness and take a minute to truly appreciate this joyous time?
We have created a list of seven simple ways you and yours can minimize the demands of the season to take time and enjoy each other and the things that are happening around you.
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I have felt driven to write this post for months now, I just haven't been able to figure out how to start or end it. Although I still don’t know how this post will end I am okay with that because I’ve had a conviction that sometimes there isn’t an ending to some posts and that is okay. The points I’m trying to expose are endless anyways.   Well y'all, I am starting this blog post once again and I am determined to follow through. It is one that I have found myself starting a million times before. After creating a rough draft I would always hit the "save" tab and think to myself that I'd come back in a couple of days to add more. After a couple days, weeks and sometimes even months I would find myself right back here, eventually hitting the delete button once again. This time I vow to follow through! Follow along as I read my way through 2017!
Tags: Devotionals / Faith  This week we enter a week of Holiness as some may call it. Those familiar with Christianity and the bible know that we just celebrated Palm Sunday. This is a day of remembrance for when Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11), just one week before he would be resurrected (Matthew 28).
Leading up to the week of Easter - Jesus' Resurrection - our home church, Providence, has given out a daily devotional study with the goal of preparing our hearts for Easter Sunday. Please feel free to follow along throughout the week as I share up here the same scripture used in our churches daily devotional plan. No matter the distance or the destination of our travels there is still one place that ranks above all others. It's a place where the sights, the smells, and the sounds all come with a heightened sense of familiarity. That place is our home! I very rarely post personal things about our home so I thought I would branch out and take the opportunity to share with you not only why we love our safe haven, but also some tips for your own home decoration and organizational decisions. Many times when we first moved in to our apartment I searched for tips and tools for decorating small spaces. While many blogs have great ideas about this, they all seemed to involve spaces that you could repaint, knock out a wall, or build some shelves in. What about those of us who are renting and can't renovate our small space? What can WE do with our home to make it that place we long to come back to everyday? So, after some trial, some error, some advice from others, and a lot of careful thought we were finally able to make our small, rented space feel like US (which was the most important thing)! We were finally able to create a space that we LOVE to call our home. Please check out some of our tips and feel free to share or comment! We would love feedback from you.  Tips for Bringing Tiny Spaces to LIFE!
 Last night I was at a Bible study surrounded by a group of women who I am so privileged to call my friends and mentors. It is such a joy for me that I am privileged enough to experience this every few weeks.
At one particular point in one of our discussions, one of the women looked at me and she said "you know you really should lay that whole situation on the altar." The specific topic of the conversation is irrelevant, but I will provide insight into the situation by stating that the topic that we had been discussing was one that I had been praying about and had honestly felt that I HAD been laying it on the altar. After much reflection and thought I would soon realize that that wasn’t completely accurate. 
Calling ALL Women!
So, this afternoon I was doddling around on the Internet. Actually, I was attempting to shop, even though I didn't need to be and one link lead me to another until I landed on the site for Revive our Hearts. (https://www.reviveourhearts.com/)
Now I'm not sure how many of you have wandered here before but what a GREAT place to find yourself on a Saturday afternoon. This site really is filled with wonderful tools, resources, events, motivation and sound doctrine for every follower of Christ.  Recently there has been an aching inside me for the country and world in which we live. Just this morning, like too many days recently, our News Sources were flooded with reports of the latest overnight shooting and other acts of violence. It is discouraging and even scary because it seems that violence and malice are running ramped throughout our streets, cities and nations. It's fearful to walk out of the house knowing that violence could occur right where you live or to travel the world rarely feeling completely safe. As a teacher, I worry for our children and their hearts.
It is terrifying for our neighborhoods, schools, and cities and it is fearful for our future. Just this morning as I found myself feeling rushed and anxious about all the "other" things that I needed to get done I pulled out this book that I am using as a daily bible study. I think it is so essential to find yourself in the word daily even though I find myself consistently struggling with it. I try to be good about it and I have found ways of being able to incorporate studies into my daily routine. I have found that "The Christian Servant," an online devotion is a great tool because they send out daily devotions that are relevant to the work place. The devotion is in my inbox when I get to work in the morning, they're quick and easy to read and the best part is that their written by every day workers around the world, just like you and I. On days when I "guilt-ingly" don't get to my bible study I find that I have missed out.
Just the other day I was cooking with a few of my girlfriends. As the guys were joyfully surrounded by the grill outside enjoying their manliness the girls were joyfully embracing girly conversation discussing life, daily trends and all of the above. When, out of the blue these girls, friends of the same age and demeanor, both in strong, sturdy relationships, started asking ME for marriage advice. Now, being the only married one of the group I immediately thought this must seem to them qualification for advice giver. I began to think about all of this and I thought "Wow!" "When did I start giving marriage advice?"What ACTUALLY qualifies me to give MARRIAGE advice?"
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